The woman who ran Macau’s New Century Hotel before it was seized by court order in December over unpaid debts has now been ordered to pay Venetian Macau HK.1 million for delinquent gambling loans.
The sum, equivalent to US$10.65 million, is contained in an order handed down by Hong Kong’s High Court against Chen Mei Huan, also known by her Cantonese name Chan Mei Fun.
English-language Macau Business Daily reports that court papers show Chen was granted a HK$90 million line of credit in March 2010 to gamble at an unspecified Venetian Macau property. Chen stated in her credit application that she was chief operations officer of Greek Mythology (Macau) Entertainment Group Corp., the newspaper said.
Greek Mythology is the name of the casino adjoining the New Century. It operates as a sub-licensee of SJM.
Citing the court judgment, the newspaper says Chen had run through the credit within two months and “stopped repayment in May 2012”.
Chen, a US citizen who gave her address as a Macau hotel room, argued the Hong Kong court had no jurisdiction and denied ever drawing the gambling loan.
New Century, which is located on the Macau island of Taipa, has since been renamed Imperial Palace.
